Grammy Awards hit high note with big audience

February 13, 2012Updated: February 14, 2012 12:02am

Photo: AP

Adele poses backstage with her six awards at the 54th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012 in Los Angeles. Adele won awards for best pop solo performance for "Someone Like You," song of the year, record of the year, and best short form music video for "Rolling in the Deep," and album of the year and best pop vocal album for "21."

Adele poses backstage with her six awards at the 54th annual Grammy...

Grammys hit a high note

Sunday's Grammy Awards telecast made sweet music in the ratings, delivering for CBS its largest audience since 1984 and beating last year's viewership by 50 percent.

More than 39.9 million viewers flocked to the broadcast, making it the second-most-watched Grammys in history, according to preliminary Nielsen Co. figures released Monday. That exceeds last year's Oscars broadcast, which was seen by 37.6 million viewers.

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Helping stoke interest in this year's Grammys broadcast was recording sensation Adele, who emerged as the night's big winner with six trophies. Her album, “21,” was by far the year's best seller and one of its most critically acclaimed.

White House to honor the blues

The White House is opening its doors in an invitation to the blues.

Jeff Beck, Mick Jagger, B.B. King and Keb Mo are among the A-list artists who will perform at the White House Feb. 21 to celebrate blues music and recognize Black History Month.

The program will be live-streamed on the White House website, www.whitehouse.gov/live. It will also be broadcast at 9 p.m. Feb. 27 on PBS stations. The American Forces Network will broadcast it later.

President Barack Obama will deliver remarks at the event.

The Obamas have opened the White House to a number of programs showcasing Hispanic, Broadway and country music, among genres.